The present disclosure relates generally to food storage units and, more particularly, to systems and methods for cooling airplane food storage compartments.
Airline meals are typically prepared in advance by caterers. In one approach, a caterer prepares a large quantity of individual meals and stores the meals in a refrigeration locker. In preparation for a flight, the caterer takes the required quantity of meals out of the locker and places the meals in aircraft galley carts. The caterer then transports the galley carts to the aircraft and loads the meals into a galley. The galley typically includes a plurality of refrigerated compartments or zones. Accordingly, one or more galley carts may be loaded into a single compartment.
In operation, a single refrigeration unit supplies cooled air to each of the compartments or zones via a plurality of ducts. Moreover, a single thermostat is used to maintain the temperature of the cooled air supplied to the plurality of compartments. The temperatures within each of the compartments are therefore not individually controlled. Thus, the temperature within each of the compartments is maintained at the temperature set by the single thermostat.
When the galley carts are removed from the compartments, for example to serve the food to the customers, the refrigeration unit continues to maintain the temperature within the compartment. More specifically, although cooling air is no longer required to cool a compartment, the refrigeration unit continues to provide the cooled air because the ducts, compartments, or zones cannot be individually controlled. As a result of the unnecessary cooling, the refrigeration unit continues to consume a significant amount of electrical power from the aircraft power system. Moreover, the refrigeration unit may generate sufficient noise to cause some of the passengers discomfort during the flight.